Jacob Ricci
Dr. Foggleman
EDC 102H
26 September 2011 Early Schooling
For me, school has been a rollercoaster ride of high points and low points. In elementary school, I enjoyed and looked forward to class. In middle school, I dreaded walking into the building.This change occurred mainly due to one teacher.
In elementary school, I looked forward to each and every day that I was able to go learn. I was delighted to step on the bus, as it meant I was going to school, and school was fun. I had great teachers, that made learning entertaining, and encouraged us to do our best. Second grade was especially fun, as my teacher loved history as much as I did. We even celebrated Abe Lincoln’s birthday by turning the classroom into an exhibit, which most of the school toured. Third grade proved to be similarly exciting, as did fourth grade. I remember times when a few other students and I would stay in during recess to work on more advanced math concepts. I learned a great deal, not just about the material but also about how much fun school and learning could be.
Fourth grade is particularly memorable because it was when I first met Morgan Carroll. Morgan was a boy in my class with Down’s syndrome. Due to my bus being one of the last called, I volunteered for the task of walking Morgan down to an after-school program he attended. We soon became friends. In middle school, we were in the same Learning Center, though not any of the same classes. We would eat lunch together, I would remind him to behave, and he would remind me to have some fun. Our friendship grew as we moved into sixth grade, though we only saw each other at lunch and at a yearly fundraiser in honor of his brother, who had been a marine. Unfortunately, that proved to be the last year we saw each other, as the neighboring town had a better special education program, and Morgan moved there for his final years of middle school and into high school. Due to his Down’s syndrome, Morgan does not remember me very much, but I will always remember him. He taught me to be myself and never to let anyone tell me that I could not do something. He showed me how to have fun in the midst of disagreeable circumstances, and kept me grounded and positive throughout the turbulent years which were to come.
It was also during fifth grade that my view of school became decidedly more negative. The main cause for this shift was one specific teacher. While I have worked to block out the memories of that year, I can say that she caused me much pain and made my life miserable. In one particularly ironic instance, my mom called to talk to her toward the end of the year, and was shocked to realize that I had been complaining about her for the entire year not because it was a transition period from elementary to middle school, but because the teacher was not a good teacher. She would discourage rather than encourage the class, but me in particular. She seemed determined to have us thinking like her, and repeatedly told us our original work was bad. The list of reasons is lengthy, but finally my parents understood that they were not stemming from the transition, but rather my teacher. Unfortunately, this revelation came too late to effect fifth grade, but had a substantial impact on the rest of my schooling. From then on, when I had issues with a teacher, my mom would not hesitate to take action, calling the school to talk with the teacher. This annoyed me greatly at time, and so in high school I convinced her to stop, which would prove to hurt me more than help me.
Following fifth grade, my middle school years moved in relatively uneventful swings from good to not so good, but it was always better than fifth grade. In sixth grade, I found myself losing interest in science, as so much of it was material I already knew. In seventh grade, I began to enjoy writing more, though in a limited and far more artistic fashion. Eighth grade proved to be more difficult, but still fun as I began to encounter algebra, which I saw practical applications for outside of the classroom. Overall, the years moved quickly and it didn’t take long for me to be preparing to enter high school.
My early education set me up for both success and failure, and left me to choose. In elementary school, I was shown how learning could be fun, and filled with a determination to become all that I could be. In middle school, I was shut down, and left feeling weak and inferior, something I struggled hard to overcome. The stage was set for my high school career to be either great or terrible, and the choice was left to me. Taking the lessons I had learned in middle school, I moved forward to make the best of high school.
Dr. Foggleman
EDC 102H
26 September 2011
Early Schooling
For me, school has been a rollercoaster ride of high points and low points. In elementary school, I enjoyed and looked forward to class. In middle school, I dreaded walking into the building.This change occurred mainly due to one teacher.
In elementary school, I looked forward to each and every day that I was able to go learn. I was delighted to step on the bus, as it meant I was going to school, and school was fun. I had great teachers, that made learning entertaining, and encouraged us to do our best. Second grade was especially fun, as my teacher loved history as much as I did. We even celebrated Abe Lincoln’s birthday by turning the classroom into an exhibit, which most of the school toured. Third grade proved to be similarly exciting, as did fourth grade. I remember times when a few other students and I would stay in during recess to work on more advanced math concepts. I learned a great deal, not just about the material but also about how much fun school and learning could be.
Fourth grade is particularly memorable because it was when I first met Morgan Carroll. Morgan was a boy in my class with Down’s syndrome. Due to my bus being one of the last called, I volunteered for the task of walking Morgan down to an after-school program he attended. We soon became friends. In middle school, we were in the same Learning Center, though not any of the same classes. We would eat lunch together, I would remind him to behave, and he would remind me to have some fun. Our friendship grew as we moved into sixth grade, though we only saw each other at lunch and at a yearly fundraiser in honor of his brother, who had been a marine. Unfortunately, that proved to be the last year we saw each other, as the neighboring town had a better special education program, and Morgan moved there for his final years of middle school and into high school. Due to his Down’s syndrome, Morgan does not remember me very much, but I will always remember him. He taught me to be myself and never to let anyone tell me that I could not do something. He showed me how to have fun in the midst of disagreeable circumstances, and kept me grounded and positive throughout the turbulent years which were to come.
It was also during fifth grade that my view of school became decidedly more negative. The main cause for this shift was one specific teacher. While I have worked to block out the memories of that year, I can say that she caused me much pain and made my life miserable. In one particularly ironic instance, my mom called to talk to her toward the end of the year, and was shocked to realize that I had been complaining about her for the entire year not because it was a transition period from elementary to middle school, but because the teacher was not a good teacher. She would discourage rather than encourage the class, but me in particular. She seemed determined to have us thinking like her, and repeatedly told us our original work was bad. The list of reasons is lengthy, but finally my parents understood that they were not stemming from the transition, but rather my teacher. Unfortunately, this revelation came too late to effect fifth grade, but had a substantial impact on the rest of my schooling. From then on, when I had issues with a teacher, my mom would not hesitate to take action, calling the school to talk with the teacher. This annoyed me greatly at time, and so in high school I convinced her to stop, which would prove to hurt me more than help me.
Following fifth grade, my middle school years moved in relatively uneventful swings from good to not so good, but it was always better than fifth grade. In sixth grade, I found myself losing interest in science, as so much of it was material I already knew. In seventh grade, I began to enjoy writing more, though in a limited and far more artistic fashion. Eighth grade proved to be more difficult, but still fun as I began to encounter algebra, which I saw practical applications for outside of the classroom. Overall, the years moved quickly and it didn’t take long for me to be preparing to enter high school.
My early education set me up for both success and failure, and left me to choose. In elementary school, I was shown how learning could be fun, and filled with a determination to become all that I could be. In middle school, I was shut down, and left feeling weak and inferior, something I struggled hard to overcome. The stage was set for my high school career to be either great or terrible, and the choice was left to me. Taking the lessons I had learned in middle school, I moved forward to make the best of high school.